Vise attachment



F. LANZETTA.

VISE ATTACHMENT. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 15. 1919.

Patented Ja1 1.13,1920.

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FRANCESCO LANZETTA, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

visn ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J an. 13, 1920- Application filed February 15, 1919. Serial No. 277,125.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCESCO LANZETTA, a subject of the King of Italy, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Vise Attachment, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an attachment for woodworkers benches, and more particularly, adapted for employment in benches used by cabinet-makers and carpenters.

. Benches of the character described are invariably provided with a vise operated either on the front or end thereof, and'adapted to hold the piece of wood to be worked upon by the cabinet-maker or carpenter. The vise employed is usually in the formof a movable jaw which maybe adjusted toward and away from the edge of the bench which forms the fixed jaw of the vise, by the manipulation of a threaded stem or hand screw operating on the movable jaw 'at a point substantially mid-way from its ends.

A vise of this character operates with high eliiciency on pieces of wood which are positioned in the vise so as'to extend longitudinally thereof and occupy a position substantially over the point of force applied by the threaded stem, but if it is desired to clamp a piece of wood between the fixed and movable portions of the vise and in such position that said piece of wood lies wholly at one side of a vertical plane passed through the stem, it is found in practice that the adjacent faces of the vise will be forced out of parallel relation when. the threaded stem is screwed up, and the piece to be worked on will either not be held with sufficient rigidity or will be scarred by the converging adjacent surfaces of the fixed and movable jaws which, when pressure is applied, will force themselves into the edges of the piece positioned therebetween. Accordingly, in vises as now employed it is necessary, when operating upon a piece of wood in the manner specified, to place an additional piece of wood, usually in the form ofa'small block, of the same thickness as the piece to be worked upon, at the opposite side of the threaded stem from the side on which it is desired to clamp the piece to be worked upon. By this means, the parallelism of the vise jaws is maintained and the piece is properly held in rigid clamped position as aforesaid.

While this method of using the vise,

through the employment of an additional block of wood, will overcome the difliculties referred to, a piece of wood of the desired thickness is not always readily obtainable and frequently considerable time is lost in locating or cutting such a block, and with this in mind, the object of the present invention is to provide an attachment for'a vise which will take the place of the block of wood referred to, but which is automatically adjustable to space one end of the movable jaw from the corresponding end of the fixedjaw within wide limits.

A further object of the invention is to so constitute the attachment that it will be automatic in its operation and will not hinder the normal operation of the vise, or interfere with the clamping of frames or sticks of wood longitudinally of the vise. I

Features of the invention other than those specified will be apparent from the hereinafter detail description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 1

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated onepractical embodiment of the invention, but the construction therein shown is to be understood as illustrative only, and not as defining the limits of the mventlon.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet-makers bench showing an attachment embodying the present invention associated 190 with the vise thereof; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the vise end of the bench.

Referring to the drawings, A-designatesa cabinet-makers bench associated with which is a movable jaw B of a vise. A portion C of the front edge of the bench constitutes the fixed jaw of the vise and the movable jaw is guided in its operations relative to the fixed jaw by a pair of guides D. The

movable jaw B of the vise is movable toward and away from the fixed jaw by means of a threadedstem E operated in the usual manner through the bar F, associated with thehub e of the stem. The vise described 1 is of the usual form, the guides D and stems E lying in substantially the same horizontal plane below the upperfaces of the fixed and movable jaws. The attachment of the present inventionwill now be described,

G is a bar. guided for longitudinal sliding movement in keepers H which are secured on to the end of the bench by means of screws or lag screws 72. as shown. Mounted on the movable jaw of the vise by means of lag screws 6 is a plate I having a tapped hole therein adapted to receive the shank of a thumb screw J, which is adapted to be passed through a hole in the forward end of the bar Gr for the purpose of detachably securing it to the movable jaw of the vise.

With this construction it will be apparent that, as the movable jaw is shifted toward and away from the fixed jaw, such operations will bring about sliding movement of the bar G in the keepers H. The upper edge of the bar G is serrated or toothed as at g, and with these serrations is adapted to co operate a dog orlatch L mounted for pivotal movement on a pin Z so that the latch normally gravitates into engagement with the teeth 9, but may be thrown back on the pin Z to disengage the teeth and allow free movement of the bar. are so constituted that, when in cooperative relation they will lock the bar Gr against the push of the movable jaw of the vise, but will allow free movement of the movable jaw in a direction away from the fixed jaw.

The operation of the device will be manifest which, in the style of vise illustrated in the drawings, has the further function of maintaining the fixed and movable jaws vertically parallel at all times. Assuming that the jaws of the vise are in contact, and the screw stem E substantially home, the vise may be readily manipulated to receive a piece of wood N in the upstanding position shown in Fig. 1 by simply unscrewing the stem E through manipulation of the handle F, to retract the movable jaw sufficiently to allow of the placing of the piece of wood N in the position shown between the fixed and movable jaws. During this movement of the stem E, the bar G is drawn forwardly and rides idly under the gravity latch L. After the piece of wood N is placed in the position shown, the handle F may be manipulated to force the movable jaw toward the fixed jaw. It will be apparent however that the gravity latch will immediately come into operation to preclude the adjacent end of the jaw from such movement with the result that the opposite end of said fixed jaw will be forced to grip the piece of wood N tightly in position, and the jaws of the vise will be maintained in arallel relation.

s heretofore stated the guides D serve as a means for maintaining the jaws vertically parallel at all times, and, irrespective of the style of vise'with which the present inven tlon' may be associated, such vise is invariab ly provided with some means for maintaming the jaws vertically parallel when a plece of woodis in clamped position there The latch and teeth between. On the other hand, the rack and latch serve as a means for maintaining the jaws horizontally parallel when a piece of wood is clamped in the opposite lateral half of the vise from that with which the rack and latch are associated. The vise of the present invention, accordingly, provides means for maintaining the jaws vertically parallel when an article is clamped therebetween and separate means for maintaining the jaws horizontally parallel when only one lateral half of the vise is employed to clamp an article.

When it is desired to remove the piece of wood N after working thereon, or to shift its position in the vise, the handle F may be manipulated to retract the movable jaw and allow of the removal of the piece of wood.

It will be noted that the bar G is positioned below the upper edge of the jaws so that a long board or stick may be clamped longitudinally of the vise and project beyond both ends thereof without interference by the bar G. Moreover, if it is desired to use the vise with the exclusion of the attachment, for the purpose of operating on the frames or the like, which require engagement by both ends of the vise, the thumb screw J may be readily moved to release the bar G, and allow it to be slid longitudinally out of the way. It will of course be under stood that if it is desired to close the vise from a relatively large opening to a small one, this may be accomplished by reaching over and throwing the latch L back and out of engagement with the teeth whereupon, even though the bar remains secured to the movable j aw, it will in no way interfere with the movement of said jaw in either direction.

The present invention, while extremely simple, is highly meritorious, operates with great efliciency in the carrying out of its functions and may be marketed at a relatively low figure. While being always in a position. for immediate operation, it can nevertheless be conditioned through manipulation of the thumb screw J to allow of unrestricted employment of the vise in the old and well known way, should the workman so desire.

Having thus fully described the invention,- what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described, a vise embodying fixed and movable jaws, means for shifting the movable jaw toward and away from the fixed jaw, and means for maintaining the jaws vertically parallel during the clamping of an article therebetween, in combination with a rack, one end of which is secured to one of the lateral ends of the movable jaw, rack guiding means associated with the corresponding end of the fixed jaw, and a latch associated with the fixed jaw, and positioned for engagement with the rack to lock said rack against longitudinal movement for the purpose of maintaining the end of the movable jaw to which the rack is attached in spaced relation to the corresponding end of the fixed jaw, when an article is clamped between the opposite lateral halves of said jaws.

2. In a device of the class described, a vise embodying fixed and movable jaws, means for shifting the movable jaw toward and away from the 'fixed jaw, and means for maintaining the aws vertically parallel during the clamping of an article therebetween, in combination with means, associated with one lateral half of the fixed and movable jaws, for maintaining such lateral half in spaced relation when an article is clamped between the other lateral half of said aws.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

FRANCESCO LANZETTA. 

